1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toll collecting system for a vehicle in toll roads.
2. Description of the Related Art
In toll roads such as high speed roads there is often a means for collecting the toll.
One way of collecting tolls for toll roads involves staff stopping each vehicle at a toll gate and handing out a card indicating the point at which the vehicle entered the toll road. A toll determined by the card indicating the point of entry is then collected from vehicles leaving the toll road.
At the Dallas North Tollway and Greater New Orleans Bridge No. 2 in the U.S.A., toll collecting systems are used that employ a noncontact type data carrier.
In this type of toll collecting system, the user passing through the toll road purchases a data carrier, called a tag, beforehand. Data can be written to or read from this data carrier using microwaves. The user passes along the toll road with the tag stuck to the inside of the vehicle windscreen.
The individual number of the tag is identified at the toll stations at the entrances to the toll road by using microwaves generated by a read-write processing device provided at the toll station to access the tag. The toll for passage along the road is then automatically paid from the tag user's bank account or the like.
However, at toll stations having more than one lane provided with a read/write processing device, interference sometimes occurs due to some of these read-write processing devices communicating with the tags of vehicles passing in adjacent lanes, or with the tag of the following vehicle.